Furious producer blasts union over foreign actors

THE bitter dispute over the importation of foreign actors has flared again, with outspoken Australian film producer Antony Ginnane telling an audience of his peers that actors union Equity was "frightened, heading for the hills, and it's our job to get out there and shoot them down".

Ginnane was expressing his frustration with opposition from "a bunch of union hooligans" at a session at the Screen Producers Association of Australia conference in Sydney, where he revealed Equity had derailed his plan to import American actor Gena Rowlands for his latest film.

American actress Gena Rowlands.

Ginnane's three-year term as president of SPAA ended in September, and its latter stages coincided with the emergence of a dispute over the federal government's plans to change the conditions under which foreign actors could be engaged on Australian productions.

Under the government's proposed guidelines, which were first floated almost two years ago but only offered to Equity for comment in May, the budgets and percentages of foreign investment under which foreign actors could be granted a temporary work visa would be lowered, and an "exceptional circumstances" trigger introduced.

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Equity vigorously opposes the changes, arguing they would result in a significant loss of opportunities for Australian actors to develop their craft.

The government has not yet announced whether or not it will endorse the proposed changes.

Ginnane cast US screen legend Gena Rowlands in his psychological drama Last Dance, a $3 million feature now shooting in St Kilda, in February. The film is a two-hander, in which a young Palestinian man holds hostage an elderly Holocaust survivor after a failed attempt to blow up a synagogue. Rowlands was cast opposite Firass Dirani, who starred as John Ibrahim in Underbelly.

Because he knew the federal government was planning to change the conditions under which foreign actors could be engaged on Australian productions he held off applying for a visa for Rowlands until the new guidelines were enacted, planning to rely on the "exceptional circumstances" element.

But with the changes still in limbo and the start of production looming, Ginnane finally had no choice but to submit an application for Ms Rowlands' work visa under the existing guidelines. Fourteen days before cameras rolled last Monday, it was refused.

Rowlands was replaced by Julia Blake, a well-regarded performer – who is, incidentally, married to Terry Norris, an active supporter of the Equity campaign – but one lacking the international appeal of Gena Rowlands.

"Julia is a wonderful actor, no question, but there's a very real chance that outside of Australia this will be a telemovie now," said Mr Ginnane.

UK sales agent Carey Fitzgerald supported that view. "There was a real buzz around this film in overseas territories because of Gena Rowlands' involvement," she said. "It was the one factor that gave the film a point of difference in the very crowded arthouse segment, and now that's gone."

Simon Whipp, director of Equity, insisted Ginnane could not expect to take government money on one hand – his film is part financed by Screen Australia – and flout the guidelines on the other. "If he wants it all his own way, he should go and get private money and then he can import anyone he likes," he said.

"The government decided it wasn't appropriate for him to bring in Gena Rowlands, and what that shows is they don't like it when anyone tells them what to do, whether that be producers or the union."

The case is the second in recent weeks in which a production has run into trouble over its casting of a foreign lead.

On November 5, blog TV Tonight reported that the ABC had pulled out of the Australia-New Zealand co-production Top of the Lake, from producer Emile Sherman (The King's Speech) and director Jane Campion (The Piano), over the decision to cast American actor Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olsen in Mad Men) in the lead.

The Age understands that decision was made on the basis of the ABC's internal policy rather than as a response to pressure from Equity.

However, Equity members voted last month in favour of taking industrial action against the proposed changes, with 98 per cent of those who voted supporting a campaign.

According to the union, any industrial action would likely involve actors being urged "not to work, or accept contracts, on productions that fail to reach an agreement with the union about the use of foreign actors".